SRP® Technology  SRP® Vaccines
What is an SRP® vaccine?
Siderophore Receptor and Porin proteins are the basis of all vaccines made using our patented SRP® Technology. It has long been recognized that SRP® proteins are highly conserved; in other words, many various bacterial species carry these identical proteins, even though the rest of their exterior structures (LPS, which determines serotype) are unique. This feature makes SRP® proteins an attractive target for vaccine development, which has been recognized in scientific literature for many years.
Scientists at Epitopix discovered an extraction technique to harvest SRP® proteins from commercial scale bacterial fermentations. This made it possible to purify SRP® in quantities sufficient for economic vaccine production. Purified SRP® can be formulated with many common vaccine adjuvants for administration into a host population by injection.
Active immunization using SRP antigens
There are a number of essential features regarding these specialized transport proteins that open a window of opportunity for disease prevention through active immunization.
- These specialized transport proteins are exposed on the outer membrane of the bacterium, making them susceptible to circulating antibodies produced by the host.
- Active immunization against SRP® proteins results in disabling bacterial cell wall receptors required for acquisition of elemental iron, which is an essential bacterial nutrient for metabolism and survival in host animal tissues.
- Antibody mediated response to these surface exposed outer membrane proteins can increase opsonization, that is, increase macrophage activity resulting in increased phagocytosis and induce complement mediated bacterial lysis.
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- Biochemical and genetic analysis has shown these outer membrane proteins (Omps) to be highly conserved and expressed in high copy number; e.g., OmpA, OmpC and OmpF are present at 100,000 copies per bacterial cell.
- A number of these porins demonstrate immuno-regulatory activity, acting as T and/or B cell activators which stimulate the synthesis of various cytokines or activate intracellular signaling pathways, thus enhancing the protective efficacy of the vaccine composition.
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SRP Vaccine - How it works
When iron is in short supply, bacteria develop siderophore receptors, specialized proteins that steal iron from the host.
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SRPs in the vaccine cause antibodies to be developed as part of the normal
immune response.
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Antibodies prevent iron from passing through the SRPs in the cell's
outer membrane.
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Bacteria are deprived of iron and die.
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